Books are a comfort at the best of times. At the worst of times, they can become essential companions. For many of us – and definitely for me – reading has become a balm as we hole up in our homes and search for some meaningful distraction. With this in mind, The Globe and Mail Book Club is moving to a virtual space. We launch this new edition with international bestselling author Kathy Reichs and an ideal kind of book to curl up with during a pandemic.
Author Kathy Reichs was in conversation with The Globe's Marsha Lederman in our live Book Club event on May 20.
A Conspiracy of Bones, published this spring, is the 19th in Reichs’s blockbuster Temperance Brennan series. The series has topped bestseller lists, been translated into some 30 languages and spawned the hit TV series Bones.
Read more: A Conspiracy of Bones by Kathy Reichs takes on the absurdity of conspiracy theories
Read our recent interview with Kathy Reichs
Reichs, who was born in Chicago, has a long history in Montreal, where she has worked for years and still lives part-time.
In the new book, Reichs’s protagonist Tempe is recovering from neurosurgery in Charlotte, N.C., mourning the loss of her former boss, Larabee, and sidelined by a new boss with an old grudge. She clandestinely involves herself in a mystery after receiving a series of creepy anonymous text messages: photos of a faceless corpse. But Tempe’s medical condition is making it difficult at times to distinguish reality from hallucinatory fantasy.
Handout
It might sound a little dark, but let me tell you, this book has been the light at the end of many long days juggling working from home/home-schooling/housecleaning/generating three meals plus endless snacks. A page-turner from a masterful crime writer, A Conspiracy of Bones has managed to distract me from real-life, currently unsolvable mysteries.
In the online Globe and Mail Book Club event, Reichs – herself a forensic anthropologist who worked at a Montreal lab for many years – will discuss the novel and more. I’m keen to ask her about the intersection of art and life, something that has always been in play for Reichs with this series, but which is particularly profound in this book. We’ll also find out how Reichs is faring during the pandemic.
Reichs will also answer questions from Globe and Mail readers, so please submit them to bookclub@globeandmail.com.
The event will take place Wednesday, May 20, at 8 p.m. EST at tgam.ca/bookclub. Reichs, who divides her time between Montreal, Charlotte and Charleston, S.C., will join us from her barrier island home off Charleston. I will be in Vancouver. And you can join us from anywhere.
How to buy a copy of 'A Conspiracy of Bones'
Kathy Reichs' official website
Keep up to date on the Globe Book Club with the Books newsletter. Sign up today.
Marsha Lederman
